Edelman has released the 2010 edition of its annual Trust Barometer report.
Category: Edelman
Edelman ‘Trust Report’ Shows CEOs Nearing Used Car Salesmen
Edelman is out today with its annual Trust Barometer, and the results aren’t pretty for businesses: Nearly two-thirds of informed publics (62%) trust corporations less than they did a year ago. Among the other results:
- Trust in nearly every type of news outlet and spokesperson is down from last year. Trust in business magazines and stock or industry analyst reports — last year’s leaders — decreased from 57% to 44% and from 56% to 47%, respectively.
- Globally, only 29% trust information about a company from a CEO — down from 36% last year.
- Only 13% trust corporate or product advertising — down from last year’s low of 20%.
- In the U.K, France, and Germany, trust in business was already at a low level of 36% among our tracking audience of 35-64-year-olds — and stayed there this year. The only EU countries where business made a notable gain in trust were the Netherlands and Sweden.
The full Edelman report can be found here.
Edelman’s Plot to Ruin PR’s Reputation, Part XI
Edelman announced that its in-house staff has completely run out of ideas for clients. Instead, it will consider paying people off the street $2,500 for ideas the agency can appropriate. We submitted the idea to create a fake Wal-Mart blog that chronicles the travels of a “regular” couple across the country in an R.V. We’ll let you know when the check arrives.
Edelman Merges Units; Strives for “Authentic Communications”
Edelman will merge its three digital practices — Edelman Interactive Solutions, me2revolution and Edelman Mobile. We’re guessing the move was made to create greater synergies and highlight the firm’s global leadership and world-class service, or some such public relations bullshit. We’re sure it has nothing to do with one or more of the units underperforming. Additionally, and we’re not making this up, Edelman is now “staking its claim” to “Authentic Communications.” I guess “authentic communications” is the opposite of the work it did for Wal-Mart.
Gawker vs. Edelman
Sadly, the Gawker vs. Edelman catfight seems to be petering out. Gawker started the fireworks by accusing Edelman of telling new employees that as flacks “sometimes you just have to stand up there and lie.” That hardly seemed in the spirit of CEO Richard Edelman’s public comments on the importance of transparency, but Edelman also pimps Wal-Mart, so it’s hard to tell who is telling the truth.
Denver Public Relations Blog 